Dear Friends:

I am Naheed Usmani my weekly APPNA update for you, on our COVID19 work.

18,000 Pakistani-descent physicians in US and Canada are on the front line and taking care of patients every day. They continue to work to save lives in spite of shortage of personal protective equipment in hotspots like New York and New Jersey. Many of them are falling sick with the virus. They deserve tremendous credit and our gratitude. We cannot thank them enough. All our prayers for their continued good health and wellbeing.

APPNA's Covid 19 taskforce under the leadership of Dr. Sajid Chaudhry, since it's inception on 20th March, has been busy. Much has been achieved in just 2 weeks. Today, let me highlight the work of 4 APPNA Committees in the taskforce: Social Welfare & Disaster Relief, MERIT, Advocacy, Communications.

  1. The Social Welfare and Disaster Relief Committee, under Dr. Aisha Zafar's leadership, has already raised $150K and has another wonderful commitment from a very generous Silicon Valley donor of an additional $300K for PPE for US and Pakistan.

    a) Emergency help in US/Canada included:
    - 200 KN 95 masks and 500 surgical masks supplied to Elmhurst hospital New York last week
    - Another 4000 N-95 masks are to be given to 3 different New York City hospitals next week
    - Over $25,000 for Food Pantries in partnership with ICNA is being distributed in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Seattle, Dallas, New Orleans and Minnesota

    b) Emergency help in Pakistan has also spanned personal protective equipment (PPE) and food assistance
    - Over $55000 already sent to Pakistan for food distribution in partnership with different organizations (Saylani, Akhuwat, AlKhidmat. Kindle foundations). Food is being distributed in Quetta, Gilgit/Baltistan, Karachi, Lahore, KPK, Bahawalpur and Rawalpindi/Islamabad areas.
    - 2000 N95 & 1000 KN 95 masks have been sent which will reach Pakistan on 4/8. Another 10,000 N 95 masks will be sent in another week
    - Almost 2000 kits for COVID-19 testing have been provided to Nishtar Hospital, Multan by Nishtar alumni
    - 400 gowns have been provided to Jinnah Hospital, Lahore
    - Dr. Shahnaz Khan, a senior APPNA lifetime member, is volunteering on the ground in Pakistan and personally handling distribution of PPE to hospitals and clinics.
     
  2. APPNA MERIT, under the leadership of Dr. Shahid Rafiq, and co-chair Dr. Danish Bhatti, has been holding daily live webinars to institutions and medical centers in Pakistan, at 8am Pakistan time, to share the latest from US experts on management of COVID19 patients. US experts have included infectious disease specialists, intensivists, cardiologists, primary care physicians and many others. There have been extensive live Q&A discussions and the recorded webinars are now available on APPNAMERIT.COM. Please publicize these to your doctor friends in Pakistan.

    - APPNA has also been holding Weekly community awareness webinars in United States by APPNA experts
    - We are also working on setting up Telehealth to provide online live advice to health care providers in Pakistan
     
  3. Advocacy Committee, under Dr. Abdul Rashid Piracha's leadership, has worked hard with US State Dept and embassy on the visa needs of incoming residents. The US has implemented a special exception to accept online visa applications from them. We have also worked with Pakistan government on their certificate-verification needs. The Advocacy committee is also working with legislators on utilizing Pakistani medical graduates in US who did not match for residency slots and educating legislators about the inadequacy of PPEs for our physicians.
     
  4. The Communications Committee, under Dr. Mubasher Rana leadership, is working on amplifying APPNA's message in Pakistani and US/Canadian media. Please share your stories from the front lines.

APPNA is grateful to all our physicians, families, donors, and volunteers for all they do. Please be safe and help us help our communities in this difficult time!

 

Naheed Usmani, MD
President, APPNA 2020

Web:  www.appna.org     Email:  appna@appna.org
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